What A-arms?

[twoares]

Looking to get some A-arms to replace my stock 89's but what do I need??? I ride mostly trails and some woods with my buddies and no intentions of competition looking for a more stable and comfortable ride. Do I need long travel? is +2 all I need? What brand? I'm getting new shocks (PEP's/elka's?) with the arms and need some advice on what I should look for.

[rk88r]

+2's with 4-1 rims is my preference. If your budget allows go for long body shocks as well. Standard shocks can work well.

[86Rrider]

Not to hijack twoares thread here, but he beat me to posting this question up for my nephew, who is looking for a set of wider A-arms, but not looking to drop a wad of cash on something like a T-pin front-end.

What are everyones experiences with "other" brands/makers of A-arms for the 250R?

Example of myself, I got a smokin' deal on a set of standard travel +2, +1 Laegers from a member on here, but after having the A-arms on my bike for over 2 years, I would not recommend them to anyone. The design and workmanship is not what I would expect for the original asking price from Laegers.

[k7mm]

Laeger standard travel a arms are pretty much the best standard travel a arm you can buy. Roll design makes,or made a standard travel a arm. I have had both and would take the Laegers any day over the Roll Design. The Roll were alright,but they felt too far forward for me. Shock wise,I would suggest PEP's any day of the week. To be more specific,I would suggest PEPs built and valved by Baldwin Motorsports.Mark Baldwin knows the 250R. He worked directly with Pro rider Tim Farr for years on his R.Whatever you decide,I suggest to get the most out of your money,that you are investing,if you cant afford a new matching rear shock,is to at least send in your stock rear shock when you have your fronts built and have them all set up at the same time.If you are wanting better handling and stability this is the best and really the only way to get your money's worth doing all three shocks at the same time.
Don't know how much you want to spend,but if your trying not to spend too much then don't go too wide because you'll have to buy an extended axle.
Standard travel suspension set up by the right guy is a blast!My first 250R was an 86 with standard width,standard travel Laeger a arms,stock 86 swing arm and brand new limited mass PEP shocks front and rear built by Baldwin, for my bike and I. The bike was so fun and handled like a dream. If I would have just stopped at that,I could have had a great handling fun bike and saved $20,000.00
I don't regret the journey that I have taken,I am just trying to share some wisdom with ya!!!
I don't have any experience with a long travel front end with a stock rear linkage and swing arm set up. When I made the switch to long travel, I went with a aftermarket no-link chassis.
I hope this helps!
Keith

[86Rrider]

K7mm - thanks for the input! Yes, your information is what I was thinking would help twoares and my nephew out on selecting A-arms. Get the most "bang for the buck" without breaking the bank! I am also hoping that others will post with their experience with other a-arms from not only Laeger, Burgard, Houser and Roll, but maybe some of the independant shops making a few and selling on like ebay or word of mouth.

[04450r]

As a "cheaper" alternative,I ran a set of Janssen arms on a 450r once. They were pretty beefy and the Elite series rebuildable ball joint upgrade was pricey but well worth it. Fireball arms and swingers are the exact same thing only a little cheaper. I wouldn't hesitate either one on a budget. Burgard arms are ok,but dealing with them is a different story,not worth the headache imo. Keep you eye out in the classifieds,deals come along all the time for nice used Laegers and Lsr's.

[twoares]

Thanks for the input guys. I called Baldwin today and spoke with Mark, told him what I was looking for and he suggested the PEP zps shocks and said to do the long travel a arms either lone stars or laegers. Question is this overkill for me? I'm not a pro-rider by any means but I don't want to cheap out and have regrets. Would I be just as good with some entry level elkas and some +2 arms for the riding i'm going to do?

[k7mm]

If you told Mark that you are planning on buying new shocks for whatever a arms that you buy,He must feel confident that it would be worth it to just spend more on the long travel shocks,and get yourself some used long travel a arms.Like I said,I don't have any experience with a long travel front end and a stock rear linkage and swing arm setup.If he said that is the way to go,then it will definitely work. Especially if He is the one setting up your shocks.Alot of times good used long travel a arms go for around 500.00 as used standard travel go for around 250.00 to 300.00
So right there you are spending about double on the long travel a arms. And for the long travel front shocks new,you will probably spend 300.00 more than new standard travel front shocks. So it looks like it will cost around $600.00 more to have a long travel vs a standard travel front end. Did you tell him that you wanted to have your rear shock done at the same time?That 600.00 could pay for your rear shock to be valved and you'd have money to spare.
JD Performance makes some nice looking a arms. The owner used to work for Laeger. Also Teixeira Tech has some nice long travel a arms for $575.00.
If you are gonna buy brand new front shocks,then you can buy any a arms that you want.
Now buying used shocks is a whole different story.If you think buying the right a arms is confusing then you haven't seen nothing yet.
If you was to buy the wrong length shocks for whatever a arms you were to buy,then by the time you have the shocks set up for you,your quad,and your a arms,then the money you saved buying used shocks,may not seem so sweet.I am not sure what your budget is.But I am sure if you told Mark that you needed to stay within a certain budget,then he would set you up within it.
There is nothing like having your shocks custom built just for you.It is worth every penny!The key is to find a good builder. There are a lot of builders out there,I have just personally experienced how good a suspension can truly be with Baldwin and PEPs.
If you are interested in buying used shocks for your front end,then make sure you find out what you need to know before you buy. It can be done.There is just a lot of details that you'd need to know first. It can be very frustrating to a builder to try and make shocks built for a different bike,work on yours,without the details. And even at that they still may not work without spending big money.
Keith

[86Rrider]

Well, have not stopped by this thread and I see that there has been some good info here!
Thanks 04450r for the list of a-arm makers that you had experience with.

Now, to answer twoares question: "do I need long travel?" No. Now I am by no means a expert on this as Mark Baldwin is, but over the years I have heard time and time again that the only difference between standard travel shocks and long-travel shocks are that the long travel are for the guys that cannot "tune" a standard travel shock correctly, and the long travel is more "forgiving" to be able to get it right. You do not get more suspension travel from a "long travel" shock, the name is only refering to the piston in the shock travels further in the shock body than a standard.

With that in mind, I'd say k7mm has good advise on the cost difference and what do you want to pay? Also, let me expand on my first post, that the Laeger's I bought and installed, I also got a set of Elka's at the same time and went from riding the bone-stock front suspension to a wider one with aftermarket shocks. This was probably "THE" most improvement modification I ever did to my 250R. I had rode my stock suspension for 12 years and it beat me up pretty good. The trail system by my cabin is really rough and after about 3 hrs on that trail, you were about whoop'd. New a-arms and Elkas- I can ride that trail all day and want to go back for more! So, really anything over the stock front suspension will be a great improvement in ride quality for you.

[04450r]

I remember way back(lol) when I sold my stock suspension Banshee for my first 250R. The banshee would beat me up so bad that it was unbearable. I bought the R with standard travel Lsr +2+1 arms and Stadium shocks all around,it was like going from a semi to a Caddy cts-v..lol..Those shocks were setup perfectly for me,and would soak up anything my non-professionally riding could throw at it..lol... For a "cheaper" setup it worked just fine for me.

[twoares]

Well looks like i'm finally going to pull the trigger on a set of PEP ltd mass shocks and Laeger +2 longtravel arms. I called Seth at SF Racing and he went above and beyond spending the time answering all my questions and giving me much needed advice. I called Baldwin first and after our initial conversation (2-18) he was to get back to me on a package deal and after unanswered emails and calls I took my money elsewhere. I plan on doing a "look at my stuff" build once I get all my goodies! Stay tuned... ;)

[k7mm]

That's great twoares!Glad to hear you came up with a plan. I have heard good things a out Seth being a super nice guy!Mark Baldwin pulled his back out 2 weeks ago and had to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance. There is a picture on Facebook today of a on call chiropractor,in Baldwins shop,tweaking him in shape in between working.He's swamped!

[quadmad]

How much did the arms cost ?





























/

[Burns310r]

Personally i would go with cheaper arms and std travel. I run A -class harescrambles with a set of full flights +2's and resprung/revalved 450r front shocks.

I have +4 roll design/Custom axis on my MX bike and love them.

But for a rider thats not racing, buying the PEP/ decked out with a high end front end is just a waste of money IMHO. I blow buy guys in the woods running long travel. I dont think its needed unless your going to be running a lot of MX motos at a very high pace.

Your money though, do what your want with it. Just do so knowing you will probably never see any advantage with the LT/ZPS setup other than bragging rights.

[quadmad]

It has a good setup now but it beats me up to much. So I want to start again with good stuff as this will be my last quad i ever buy I love this quad,

Its got
Flexx Bars
PEP bump steer
Rubber handle bar mount
plus 2 a arms
works triple rate with no adjustment.

It just dont work for me.

[Burns310r]

I would suggest getting your shocks setup for you or just buying new shocks setup for you/riding style/arms.

That makes the most difference of all. Having properly sprung/valved shocks.

[twoares]

Waste of money? Things like fancy paint jobs that do noting are a waste of money to me.

I bought my R when gas was $.89 a gallon and Gary Denton and Barry Hawk were my heroes. I'm not selling the quad and i've always wanted this kind of set up.

Can I save money? Sure. Do I need it? No, I don't ride much. Do I care what it costs? Not really, in the grand scheme of things it wont matter what I spent as long as it's what I want. :)

[Burns310r]

Hey Im sorry, I thought you where someone else that posted the same exact question in the other forum.

He was saying he didnt ride to hard. and was only doing some sand riding and drag racing or something. When i saw your post on here it looked like the same guy.

Sorry about that. I dont know what kind of riding you do. But for him the LT expensive front end is a waste of money.

Again sorry. My mistake.

[k7mm]

Nothing like having a luxury ride,for when you do ride!That's awesome that you have had your R for that long!!!
$0.89 a gallon for fuel. I'm 37 and never remember fuel being that cheap hahaha............
Glad your finally getting to upgrade like you've always wanted to.
I remember when I used to see Hinson quick change covers in the magazines for $500.00 and never imagined I'd spend that kind of money. I am absolutely amazed at how God has blessed me through the years.Everybody is where they're at in this life,and everyday is a brand new day. I think that it is neat to hear some background on how long you've had your R.
Are you going to have the rear shock done also?

[quadmad]

Man I have a cool story. I live in Australia and the drunkin bums here dont no what a 250r is, the guys I ride with say wow that thing goes good and are amazed when I tell them it was born in 1988.
I always wanted an R and so in 2011 I imported my R into Australia. I am 42 years old and now it's my time to build my dream bike, and you what! with forums like this it can happen. my quad is set up for MX and I do woods so I am doing a full rebirth maybe I should do a page here on my build. I have talk to many people and done hours off reading best thing is you guys telling me first hand. Let me tell you after what all you guys have to say about the xc setup is an eye opner the CR250 iginion sounds like the best mod ever and learning about arms was real interesting. After all the reading JP Performance is getting the job, Let me tell you why.JP's arms are so easy to set up and you cant go wrong caster etc.
Man I listen to you guys and order the gearing and tyres you said to run I was also told to run a smaller carb and CT have the 38mm per jetted ready to go for my motor.

All you R guys thants for help I love this fourm If you ever on the Gold Coast of Australia give me a call and lets drink beer and talk about the best quad ever made.


http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh46/quadmad/250R/250r8.jpg

My beautiful baby will not look like this when finished.


You guys rock